About Us
There is no one more dedicated to the game of baseball as Mount Vernon’s own Frank "Buddy" Paine. Paine was proud of his Irish heritage and got his amazing work ethic from his parents. Buddy learned desire, discipline, focus and toughness at a young age, having been a successful golden gloves boxer. He also had a tremendous love for the game of baseball.
One of Buddy's earliest coaching stints was at at Concordia College in Bronxville. At Concordia, Buddy built a strong Division II baseball program which produced two future major leaguers- Scott Leius (Minnesota Twins) and John Doherty (Detroit Tigers). Buddy also had a huge hand in the development of major league shortstop Mike Aviles (Kansas City Royals). Amazingly enough, the small division two school produced three major leaguers in a short span. He also was an assistant coach for the division one Iona Gaels.
Paine became a well known fixture in the local area baseball scene as well. In the 1970’s he founded the Mount Vernon Hawks, a premier amateur team that produced professional pitcher LeRoy Smith along with numerous minor league and college baseball players. He also guided the ACBL New York Generals to multiple titles. Through this process, and his other summer baseball projects, he coached over 120 future professional baseball players. As time passed, Buddy began scouting for the Cleveland Indians and followed that stint with the Detroit Tigers. In his last job, he was named the Northeast Scouting Supervisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
As the year 2000 approached, Paine had a vision to form an elite level baseball organization and baseball clinic program, for the youth of the New York metropolitan area. In 2004 Diamond Buddies was born. In addition in 2006 he co-founded The New Nine with Ian Millman. These programs were created with the express purpose of getting maximum exposure to the collegiate coaching and pro scouting communities for qualified student athletes. Paine was instrumental in helping create the rosters, create scouting venues such as the spring scrimmage, and set up the overall goals for these organizations.
One of the most straight-forward assessors of talent you would ever come across, Paine would consistently put conviction and principle before the dollar. His assessment of talent, or lack thereof, would never waiver. He would tell parents and athletes alike the truth in what he saw presently, and what they could or couldn’t expect in the future. It was this philosophy which made him one of the most respected men in the New York scouting community. Buddy passed in August, 2008, after losing a brave fight with Pancreatic Cancer.
One of Buddy's earliest coaching stints was at at Concordia College in Bronxville. At Concordia, Buddy built a strong Division II baseball program which produced two future major leaguers- Scott Leius (Minnesota Twins) and John Doherty (Detroit Tigers). Buddy also had a huge hand in the development of major league shortstop Mike Aviles (Kansas City Royals). Amazingly enough, the small division two school produced three major leaguers in a short span. He also was an assistant coach for the division one Iona Gaels.
Paine became a well known fixture in the local area baseball scene as well. In the 1970’s he founded the Mount Vernon Hawks, a premier amateur team that produced professional pitcher LeRoy Smith along with numerous minor league and college baseball players. He also guided the ACBL New York Generals to multiple titles. Through this process, and his other summer baseball projects, he coached over 120 future professional baseball players. As time passed, Buddy began scouting for the Cleveland Indians and followed that stint with the Detroit Tigers. In his last job, he was named the Northeast Scouting Supervisor for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
As the year 2000 approached, Paine had a vision to form an elite level baseball organization and baseball clinic program, for the youth of the New York metropolitan area. In 2004 Diamond Buddies was born. In addition in 2006 he co-founded The New Nine with Ian Millman. These programs were created with the express purpose of getting maximum exposure to the collegiate coaching and pro scouting communities for qualified student athletes. Paine was instrumental in helping create the rosters, create scouting venues such as the spring scrimmage, and set up the overall goals for these organizations.
One of the most straight-forward assessors of talent you would ever come across, Paine would consistently put conviction and principle before the dollar. His assessment of talent, or lack thereof, would never waiver. He would tell parents and athletes alike the truth in what he saw presently, and what they could or couldn’t expect in the future. It was this philosophy which made him one of the most respected men in the New York scouting community. Buddy passed in August, 2008, after losing a brave fight with Pancreatic Cancer.